Lesson (6): Moon and Sun Arabic Letters Pronunciation Classification

Sometimes the letter alif is followed by the letter lam to form the /?al/ pronunciation that are sometimes written and pronounced whereas sometimes are written but not pronounced according to the type of the letters (Alphabets) themselves either they are moon letters or sun letters. Consider the following Table:

Lunar Letters or /̛āl-huruf/ /̛a-qamaryah/ الحُرُوف القَمَرِية

Arabic Letter Name in Arabic

Reading of the Arabic Letter Name in transliterated English

Transcription of the Arabic Letter Pronunciation

أَلِف

̛ālif

ā

بَاء

bā̛

b

جِيم

jim

j

حَاء

hā̛

h

خَاء

khā̛

kh

عَينٍ

عain

ع̛

غَين

ghain

gh

فَاء

fā̛

f

قَاف

qāf

q

كَاف

kāf

k

مِيم

mim

m

هَاء

hā̛

h

وَاو

wāw

W(aw, au, u

يَاء

yā̛

Y (ay, ai, ῑ

هَمزَة

hamza

̛

Description:
- They are 14 letters.
- The sound /̛āl/ is clearly pronounced.

Solar Letters or /̛āl-huruf/ /ash-shamsyah/ الحُرُوف الشَمسِية

Arabic Letter Name in Arabic

Reading of the Arabic Letter Name in transliterated English

Transcription of the Arabic Letter Pronunciation

تَاء

tā̛

t

ثَاء

thā̛

th

دَال

Dāl

d

ذَال

Zāl

z

رَاء

rā̛

r

زَاي

Zāy

z

سِين

Sin

s

شِين

Shin

sh

صَاد

Sād

s

ضَاد

Dād

d

طَاء

tā̛

t

ظَاء

ẓā̛

ẓ

لاَم

Lām

l

نُون

Nun

n

Description:
- They are 14 letters.
- The sound /̛āl/ is not clearly pronounced.

A note on Definiteness and Indefiniteness of Arabic:
Arabic is unique by its Definite and Indefinite cases. It has nothing that stands equivalent to Articles "a", "an" nor "The".

Definite Arabic Word

* Letters ālif and lām attached to any word.
* Like the Article "The" in English.
* For Example: The car السَيَارة /̛as-sayāra/

Indefinite Arabic Word

* Letters ālif and lām are dropped.
* Like the Article "A" and "An" in English.
* For Example: A Car سَيَارة /sayāra/ , An Apple تُفَاحة /tufāha/ .